UC Office of the President recently announced the implementation of a new minimum wage policy for UC employees. All appointment types, 50 percent or more, are eligible with the exception of Student titles.  No UC ANR employees will be affected this fiscal year by the policy, however new vendor contracts will be affected and ANR will need to ensure compliance. The policy is effective on Oct. 1, 2015, and is described below. If you have specific questions regarding the policy or how it will affect the employees in your unit, please contact UC ANR Human Resources. 

John Fox
Executive Director, UC ANR Human Resources 
jsafox@ucanr.edu

Linda Marie Manton
Executive Director, UC ANR Human Resources Staff Personnel 
lmmanton@ucanr.edu

New hourly minimum wage policy

UC will increase the minimum wage for employees, including contract workers, on Thursday, Oct. 1, the first stage of a three-year plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2017.

Under the new UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, all employees hired to work at least 20 hours a week will be paid a minimum of $13 an hour starting Thursday, Oct. 1. That minimum will increase to $14 an hour on Oct. 1, 2016, and to $15 an hour on Oct. 1, 2017.

Contractors and subcontractors working on UC projects will be required to comply with the new policy.

UC is the first university in the country to voluntarily set a $15 minimum wage. The new rate will be higher than California's minimum wage, which is currently $9 an hour and will increase to $10 an hour on Jan. 1, 2016.

President Janet Napolitano announced the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan in July to support employees and their families, and to ensure that workers being paid through a UC contract are likewise fairly compensated.

“Supporting the employees — and their families — who help make UC a leading institution is an important part of our values as a public university,” President Napolitano said.

The new minimum wage is being implemented over three years to give campuses time to plan and budget for the cost increase. The bulk of the cost will be funded by non-core funds, such as sales from self-supporting programs like bookstores and food services. These are separate from tuition and fees, state resources and other core funds that support UC's core instructional programs.

As UC enters into new contracts or renews existing ones, the university will require contractors and subcontractors to pay their employees a wage that meets or exceeds UC's new minimum wage.

In addition, UC will enhance its oversight of contractors and subcontractors for wages and working conditions. This includes creation of a telephone hotline and online reporting system, both now in place, that contract workers can use to report complaints and issues directly to the Office of the President.

It also will include annual and interim audits of contractors to ensure they pay employees UC's minimum wage or better, and that they meet all local, state, federal and UC laws. Annual audits will be funded by the contractors, and implemented as new contracts are established and existing ones are renewed.

Learn more about the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work plan and read frequently asked questions.

The UC ANR Training Coordination Committee is sponsoring “Crucial Conversations” training on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 3­–4, 2015, in Davis. The training will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 3 and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Training is open to all UC ANR academics, ANR staff employees, and Cooperative Extension county-paid employees who have not taken the Crucial Conversations training in the past. All expenses related to the training (registration fee, travel, lodging, meals and training materials) will be reimbursed by ANR funds according to UC travel policy.

Twenty (20) participants will be accepted to the training. Individuals selected to participate in the training will need to participate for the full period of the training. Therefore, if you cannot commit to the full 14 hours of training, we ask that you not pre-register for the training. 

If you are interested in the training, please pre-register at: http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=10326. We also encourage you to inform your supervisor of your interest in participating in this training.

Individuals who have pre-registered will be notified on Oct. 15 as to whether they have been selected to participate in the two-day training. A waiting list will be established for those who are interested but are not selected to participate in the training and they will be contacted if space becomes available.

“Crucial Conversations” provides tools for talking when stakes are high, emotions are strong, and opinions differ. The objectives of the 14-hour training are to provide tools that will assist the participant in:

• Building greater personal influence and power
• Moving “stuck” work-related relationships and projects forward
• Improving personal, team, and unit results
• Reducing stress from team frustrations and blocked communication

Your program-certified trainers Jan Corlett and Linda Marie Manton thank you for considering participation in Crucial Conversations training.  If you have questions contact Jan Corlett at Jan.Corlett@ucop.edu.

The UC ANR Training Coordination Committee is sponsoring a two-day “Crucial Conversations” training on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 21 and 22, in Davis. The training runs from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 21 and from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on April 22.

Training is open to all UC ANR academics, ANR staff employees and Cooperative Extension county-paid employees who have not taken the Crucial Conversations training in the past. All expenses related to the training (registration fee, travel, lodging, meals and training materials) will be reimbursed by ANR funds in accordance with UC travel policy.

A limited number of participants will be accepted to the training. Individuals selected to participate will need to participate for the full training. If you will not be able to commit to the full 16 hours of training, please do not preregister. 

If you are interested in the training, please preregister at http://ucanr.edu/crucialconversations. We also encourage you to inform your supervisor of your interest in this training.

Individuals who have preregistered will be notified prior to March 17 as to whether they have been selected to participate in the two-day training. A waiting list will be established for those who are interested but are not selected to participate in the training, in case one or more selected individuals cancel their registration.

“Crucial Conversations” provides tools for talking when stakes are high, emotions are strong, and opinions differ. The objectives of the 16-hour training are to provide participants with tools that will assist them in:

• building greater personal influence and power
• moving forward “stuck” work-related relationships and projects
• improving personal, team, and unit results
• reducing stress from team frustrations and blocked lines of communication

Program-certified trainers Darlene Liesch and Linda Marie Manton thank you for considering participation in “Crucial Conversations” training. If you have questions, contact Manton at (530) 750-1318 or lmmanton@ucanr.edu.